m 


'Bs 


CHRISTIAN    FEMINISM 

BY 

DOCTOR  F.  V.  CORCORAN,  C.  M. 

OF 

KENRICK  SEMINARY 

PROFESSOR  OF  LOGIC  AND  PSYCHOLOGY 
AT 

LORETTO  COLLEGE 


3H1  40 


^ 


9 


Baccalaureate  Address, 

delivered  by 

Doctor  F.  V.  Corcoran,  C.  M. 

at 

Loretto  College 

Webster  Groves,  Missouri 

June  4,  1919 


Your  Grace! 

My  dear  Friends! 

Permit  mel  to  call  you  aU  such  to-day',  rather  than  ad- 
dress you  by|  any  other  term  for  it  is  because  we  are  friends 
of  Loretto  that  we  are  assembled  now,  because  we  wish  it 
well;  and  this  benevolent  love  and:  friendship  for  Loretto 
is  a  pledge  we  are  all  animated  with  one)  sentiment,  one 
mind  land  one  heart,,  that  we  e  site  em  it  a  privilejge  to  meet 
within  these  College  walls'  and  to  share  in  the  gladness  and 
triumph  that  they  hold  captive  on  this  memorable  occa- 
sion. Truly),,  theni,,  our  friendship  lor  Loretto  makes  us 
all  flriends1,  and  to  me  has  been  given  the  honor  of  ex- 
pressing in  your  namei  and  my  own  towards  the  College 
and  its  first  i*roud  graduates!,  the  words  that  may  in 
some  measure  pojrtray  the  sentiments  of  our  hearts  and 
the  Significance)  of  the  occasion  that  brings  us  herei 

To  you,  Loretto/s  honored  graduates^  this  is  an  auspi- 
cious, a  thrice  memorable  occasion;  for  to-*day  you  occupy 
the  Ifront  rank  in  the  lacademic  function  that  we  have  be- 
gun, you  are  the  reteojpaents  of  the  first  collegiate  degrees 
conferred  by  this  Institution!,  you  have  the  enviable  honor 
of  (shading  in  this  first  triumph  of  youir  College,  you  have 
the  uroud  position  of  standing  in  the  forefront  of  a  large 
hostj,  we  hope,  of  future  graduates  who  will  go  forth  from 
these  halls  to  reelect  glory  on  your  and  their  Alma  Mater 
and  to  advance  the  cause  of  true  Christian  womanhood 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  Ibeloved  America. 

Shall  I  iask  if  you  are  happy  to-day?  Is  there  not 
ample  evidence  that  no  other  feeling  has  a  right  to  dom- 
inate? Does  not;  nature  herself,  in  all)  the  charm  that 
she  so  generously  showers  on  beauteous  Webster,  give 
particular  evidencel  (this  afternoon  of  her  desirte  to  pro- 
mote the  general  rejoicing?  Does  not  your  College  Chap- 
el wear  a  more  than  wonted  garb  of  loveliness?  Doe^ 
not  this  eager  gathering  of  interested  spectators  reflect 
In  eye  and  bearing,  the  joy  and  gratitude  that  claim  your 
hearts  for  their  own?  Your  friends  are  here  in  goodly 
array;  the  dear  ones  of  home  surround  you  in  unfeigned 
dellight;  your  companions  atteind  you  with  loving  joy,  from 
the  tiniest  aspirant  after  collegiate  honors  to  the  more 
intimate  associates  of  your  college  life;  your  devoted 
tejachers,  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  are  particularly  here, 
glad,  yet  loathe  to  see  you  depart  ffrom  the  halls  in  which 
their  influence  has  been  so  tenderly  and  constantly  ex- 
ercised; the  clergy  of  our  great  Archdiocese  are  here  be- 

3 


cause  of  theyr  particular  and  individual  interest  in  you 
and  in  your  College;  and  lastly;  His  Graces  our  Most  Rev- 
erend Archbishop*  has  comie  to  give  you  the  merited 
trophy  of  youjr  scholastic  labors),  the  diploma  that  declares 
you  worthy  of!  the  Baccalaureate  of  Arts.  As  the  head 
of  the  Archdiocese,  His  Grace  could  not  well  be  spared 
on  such  an  occasion,  one  that  marks  an  event  of  no  pass- 
ing importance  in  the  educational  development  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Louis.  He  has,  in  addition^  another  title 
that  makes  his  presence  desirable  and  appropriate,  for 
the  Archbishop  is  a  teacher  too,  the  official  teacher  of  the 
djiocese,  'receiving  his  commission  not  from  man  nor  the. 
institutions  o?.  man,  but  from  the  divine  Teacher,  the 
Master  Himself,  Jesus  Christ,  and  His  Church.  In  the 
public  exercise  of  that  office  he  teaches  the  people  the 
eternal  txuths  and  the  ways  of  lijfe  from  his  Cathedral 
desk,  he  exercises  it  by  fostering  and  encouraging  the 
labors  of  his  aids  in  the  schools,  by  gaining  the  good-will 
and  cooperation  o*1  the  people  for  the  promotion  /and  suc- 
cess of  our  educational  establishments;  and  to-day  he 
will  exercise  it  by  imparting  to  you  graduates  your  first 
post-graduate  lesson. 

Happily,, then,  it  is  not.formeto  assume  that  possition 
now  habitual  though  it  be,  and  I  may  turn  the  mone  prof- 

CONGRATIJLATIONS  TO  LORETTO  COL- 
LEGE AND  ITS  FIRST  GRADUATES 

iitably  to  my  inumediaite  purpose  of  picturing  the  mean- 
ing of  this  event  and  of  congratulating  those  who  have 
awaited!  its,  who  now  welcome  Ats  coming  and  who  will  long 
cherish  the  happy  memory  of  it.  First  of'  all/,  permit  me 
in  the  name  of  all  present,,  to  tender  a  word  of  felicitation 
to  the  Collejge  and  its  Faculty.  For  Loretto  this  is  the 
brightest,  gladdest  day/  in  its  young  history,  it  witnesses 
the  first  evidence  of  the  success  of  itls  work!,,  it  is  gather- 
ing its  precious  first  fruits,  sending  f(orth  with  full  ap- 
proval its  fijrst  graduates,  its  finished  product, — a  Chris- 
tian young  womanV  ready  to  face  and  cope  with  lifefs  re- 
alities buoyed  by  the  Mgh  hope  that  a  painstaking,  intel- 
ligent training  and  preparation  can  inspire  and  sustain. 
To-day,  Sisters,  you  may  justly  look  back  with  satisfac- 
tion over  the  trying  task  of  organizing  so  grfeat  an  un- 
dertaking,, ofi  attempting  pioneer  work  in  a  field  that 
called  for  heroic  courage  and  unflagging  enthusiasm. 
Your  plan  has  been  submitted  to  the  test  of  experience 
and  it  works,  your  efforts  have  achieved  their  first  meas- 
ure of  success;  amd  if*  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  you 


*The  Most   Rev.   John  J.  Glennon,    Di,  ©..     ArchbishOD  of 
StU  Louis. 


Went  north  wel  with  the  tear8  of  sacrifice.  tO  "cast.  I  he 
BeedS,"    to-day    you  "'come  with    joy  Fulness    carrying    .\oiir 

Bhefanres.*    Gladly,  therefore,  do  we  congratulate  Loretto 

to-day    and    hid    i»I    wia.le   upon    its    iccord    in    golden    letters 

the  history  of  this  event. 

To  you,  our  Graduates,  congratulations  are  partic- 
ularly due  .or  it  is  prima  riily  on  yourl  account,  that  this 
Inspiring  sceine  is  being  enacted,  you  are  the  central  fig- 
ures in  this  polemn  celebration,  For  you  it  means  the 
gaining  of  the  crown,  a  weill-meriled  crown,  that  heaven* 

born  Wisdom  places  upon  your  brow  as  a  token  of  your 
toyal  a|nd  undivided  devotion,,  of  a.  race  well  run,  of  a  vic- 
iory  won.  To-day  you  see  your  hopes  fulfilled,  your  as- 
pirations realized),  your  immediate  goal  reached;  and  the 
symbolic  laurel  wreath  is  yours  to  wear|,  that  all  the  world 
may  know  that  you  have  "'loved  the  light  of  wisdom" 
that  you  have  preferred  her  before  alty.  and  have  found 
innumerable  richness  in  her  hands,  for  she  is  the  "bright- 
ness of  eternal!  light  ,the  unspotted  mirror  of  -God's  maj- 
esjty  and  the  image  of  His  goodness.'* 

The  degree  of  the  Baccalaurate  which  is  conferred 
upon  you  to-day  stands  specifically  (for  the  succejssf'ul 
completion  of  your  College  Course  flor  four  years  of  un- 
remitting wo/rk  in  the  pursuit  of  the  Arts),  in  Ihe  study 
of  language,  mathematics,  physical  science,  history  and 
phftlosophyl,  Ja<ll  permeated  with  the  spirit  and,  light  of 
Christian  truth.  Theire  are  other  degrees  that  indicate 
•further  progress),  but  this  is  an  important  mile-post  along 
wisdomfs  path).  You  are  fortunate,  indeed,  to  have  reach- 
ed it;  to  many  the  opportunity,  Jarnid  to  many  the  ability 
ite  lacking  to  go  thus  far  But  you  have  finished  the 
course  and  now  you  stand  better  equipped  to;  do  the  task 
to  which  God  calls  you.  You  stand  on  the  threshold;,,  with 
your  eyes  gazing  out  upon  the  worlds,  but  not  without  a 
natural  craving  *to  look  back  again  upon  the  clays  that 
are  now  brought  to  a  close.  Hope  and  memory  attend 
you  to-day,  and  their  presence  is  truly  welcome.  Gazing 
back  your  heart  ils  filled  with  the  visions  of  the  past, 
memonies  that  are  bright  and  joyousi  but  tinged  also  with 
a  gentle  meflancholyi,  because  the  years  that  are  gone  are 
hencelfqjrth  to  be  but  memories.  You  think  of  the  days 
when  you  began  your  college  career  and  saw  what  seem- 
ed a  long,  sfceepipath  before  you;  you  recall  ieack  jewelled 
year,  its  incidents^  its  conclusion;  you  think  of  those  who 
associated  with  yoq,  your  teachers  and  your*  companions, 
and  to-day  this  recollection  will  be  a  check  upon  the  ex- 
cess of  your  joy<;  You  hjave  formed  ties,  that  are  the 
stronger  because  not  so  numerous;  ties  that  are  hard  to 
seven  ties  that  bind  the  heart:  of  the  el  deist  daughter  of 
the  LorettSne  family  to  her  younger  sisters  and  to  those 
who  have  shared  in  a  mother's  privilege  and  responsibil- 
ity.    Do  not  sever  them  now;,    let  the  bond  persist,   let 


there  be  continuity  between  the  pjasit  and;  the  future 
welded  by  this  precious  hour,  let  happy  memories  endure, 
let  you/r  recollections1  of  the  scene's  fjroim  which  you  go 
forth  to-day  be  *an  ever-abiding  joy  and  one  of  the  sweet- 
est blessings  of  the  passing  years.  „ 

May  I  not  be  permitted  to  direct  your  gaze,  my 
friends,  on  towards  those  approaching  years?     Our  grad- 

LOOKING  AHEAD.      COLLEGE  GRADU- 
ATES AND  FEMINISM. 

uate/s  too  are  carry inig  their  sheaves  to-day  with  glad- 
ness; an  abundant  harvest  has  been  reaped!,  but  it  is  not 
for  consumption},  it  is  only  the  material  for  fruitage 
in  a  later  season.  Thus,  the  present  joy  and  the  retro- 
spect of  (memory  are  not  sufficient;  it  is  the  .nought  of 
£hei  future!  that  gives  this  day  and  ceremony  a  meaning 
and  a  seMousnests  that  underlie  the  song  and  music  of 
the  hour.  And  what  has  that  mysterious  future  to  say 
to  us  now?  For  her  whose  lot  it  is  to  spend  the  coming 
yearjs  in  the  silent  watches  of  conventual  life),,  the  fu- 
ture holds  out  the  prosipect  of  generous,  unselfish  ser- 
vice in  the  path  of  relagious  obedience.,  of  holy  consecra- 
tion' to  the  tlask  of  instructing  young  hearts  and  minds 
unto  truth  and  justice, — and  the  problems  of  that  future 
call!  fbr  no  discussion  now.  This  ceremony  evidences  a 
desire  aindl  a  token!  of  complete  equipment;  for  the  task  at- 
tached to  God's  special  vocation.  Ofn  the  other  handl  fo/r 
her  and,  presumably,  for  the  majority  who  shall  come 
•after  her,  for  all  those  who  are  to  leave  the  subdued  and 
delicately  tinted  iatmosphere  of'  chapel  and  cloister  to  go 
out  into  the  garish  light  of  the  world's  realities,  to  cope 
wjijthi  liife's  elusive  probl/ems,  the  future  is  a  Question  of 
supreme  importance!.  The  goal  reached  toklay  is  a  pro- 
visional one*  )and  no  greater  mistake!  could  be  committed 
than  to  rest  satisfied  with  what  has  been  thus  far  ac- 
compilitehed  and  to  fait  to  build  upon  the  foundation  that 
has  been  laid.  The  task  is  not  done,  it  is  never  done, 
and  the!  years  of  accomplishment  are  still  spread  out  al- 
luringly in  the  future.  The  graduate  of  to-day1,  then  is 
about  to  enter  upon  a  new  stage  of  her  life's  journey; 
she  goes  forth),  such  is  our  hope,  to  find  her  place  and 
task  in  the  worldfs  busy  hive),,  to  becomie  a  success  and 
not  a  failures  by  whajl:  she  will  be  and  do,  she  goes  forth 
to  ilJuistfrrate  and  realize  the  purpose  for  which  this  in- 
stitution has  begun  its  career,  to  become  a  competent, 
well—equipped  member  of  Christian  socielty. 

And  what  is  the  meaning  of  all  this?  What  is  the 
successiful  womant  the  ideal  of  Christian  training,  what 
is  her  mission',,  her  work,  her  destiny??  A  vast  ques- 
tion}, truliy;  nor  can  we  attempt  &  complete  answer  to  the 


complex  probleml  At  the  same  time  the  queatloo  li 
thetrel  clamqrfiag  for  eld  answer,  and  we  can  not  Im  fair- 
ness Ignore  n  witnout.  assuming  responsibility  for  grave 
consequences  that   ma,y   result    from   this  criminal   deaf 

ness.      Pemlnism,   the   woman    qucs(  ion,  is  to-day   no   mere 

academic  topic;  it  is  a  living  burning  issue  with  Impli- 
cations and  complications  that  reach  out  and  Into  every 

department  of  modem  life.  Throughout  the  world!  and 
heore  in  America  as  much  as  elsewhere,  the  cry  has  been 
raised  and  campaigns  have  been  inaugurated  to  secure 
to  woman  her  rights,  lo  give  her  ample  opportunity  tc 
find  her  proper  place  in  l.ftfe,,  in  the  world  of  business, 
in  education,  in  politics,  in  marriage,,  in  the  professions., 
in  a  word,  to  give  her  a  fair  field  in  evejry  department  of 
complex  modern  society. 

At  the  present  moment,  the  political  phase  of  the 
question  has    assumed   unprecedented     importance,      and 

EXISTENCE    OF    WOMAN    QUESTION. 
DIFFERENT  ATTITUDES    TO- 
WARDS IT. 

woman  suffrage  has  become  the  cry  of  the  hour.  The 
emancipation  and  liberation  o*  'the  individual  are  the 
goals  to  which  the  movement  seems  to  tend  ,  that  the 
woman  of  to  -day  may  obtain  her  lawful  place  and  need- 
f/ul  opportunity  to  live  a  richer!,  fuller  life!.  Will  it  not 
be  natural  to  ask  what  is  the  attitude  of  ia5  Catholic  Col- 
lege for  women  towards  these  questions.?  But  before 
answering,  it  must  be  noteid  that  thorite  are  various  ways 
of  stating  the  question  of  woman's  demands),  various  con- 
ceptions of  the  goal  to  be  reached),  the  end  to  be  pur- 
sued. And  in  giving  an  answer,  is  there  any  anomaly 
in  the  statement  that  the  very  jfact  of  at  Catholic  College 
for  women  is  as  tangible  an  evidence  ajs  may  be  found 
of  sympathy  for  woman's  true  interests,  for  her  advance- 
ment and  perfection?  The  desire  to  offer  her  every  op- 
portunity for  mienjtal  and  spiritual  growth,  is  at:  the  very 
soul  of  such  an  undertaking,  and  the  cause  of  feminism 
cam  gain  no  better  all/y  than  will  be  found  in  /the  teach- 
ing and  practice  of  Christian  principles. 

The  attitude  of  those  who  would  ignore  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  question  can  merit  only  condemnation. 
Those  whose  answer  is  an  amused  ismile,,  easy  and  flip- 
pant /ridicule  or  violent  denunciation  of  the  whole  idea 
can  be  excused  only  on  the  plea  that  past  experience  has 
already  given  a  satisfactory  solution  to  every  probleim 
concerning  womanls  status  and  destiny.  Such  a:  suppo- 
sition rests  on  The  othefr  fallacy  that  reason  has  alre'ady 
taken  possession  of1  its  ideal  in  the  social  order,  that 
society  is  no  longer  capable  of  progress,,  of  betterment. 


How  abisu\rb  is  such  a  isup.posit.iom>  the  last  four  years  of 
conflict  and  upheaval  too  clearly  demonstrate.  Hais  not 
the  social  fabric  been  torn  asunder,  the  social  edifice 
shaken  to  its  very  foundations,  are  not  men  and  nations 
to-day  struggling  with  (the  too  heavy  task  off  social  recon- 
struction? And  in  the  face  of  all  thisi,  can  any  sane  man 
iseriouslfy  say  that  the  social  problem  does  not  exist 
thp^t  the  part  of  it  that  concerns  woman  is  already  set- 
tled? Noi,  my  friends,  and  as  long  as  there  is  still 
room  for  advancement  in  society  at  large,  so  long  will 
the  question  of  woman's  place,  and  of1  man's  place  in 
society  await  its  final  answer. 

The  present  development  of  the  woman  question  owes 
its  rise  to  lanj  economic  crisis,  it  was  at  the!  beginning  a 

ORIGIN  AND  PRESENT  DEVELOPMENT 
OF  WOMAN  QUESTION. 

question  of)  food,,  (of  securing  a  material  livelihood.  The 
general  introduction  of  machinery  into  every  department 
oif  industrial  and  commercial  life  during  the  past  century 
so  modifiiied  and  disturbed  the  conditions  of  life  as  to 
demand  a  radical  readjustment.  Woman  had  been 
forced  to  pro  vide  for  herseltf^  or  to  help  provide  fort  the 
maintenance  o?  the  family.  Home  life  became  dis- 
turbed, (marriage  more  difficult  and  less  attractive; 
and  by  degrees  women  have  realized  their  capa- 
bility of  Securing  a  measure  of  economiic  independence 
never  before  dreamed  of.  What  was  at  first  a  hard  and 
cruel  necessity  has  been  gradually  changefd  into  an  ideal, 
to-day  theory  supplants  condition;  amd  we*  have  the 
conscious  desire  and  purpose  of  .securing  moral,  and  po- 
litical independenjce  as  well.  Truly  the  issue  has  gone 
far  beyond!  its  original  starting  point  and  now  it  is  nec- 
essary to  deal  wtith  it  not  as  it  was(*  but  as  it  is.  Still, 
it  is  well  to  know  the  origin  of  a  movement  as  im- 
portant as  this)*  especially  when  there  is  an  inclination 
to  attribute  it  to  some  other  principle  or  idea  thai  in  the 
h&nds  of  certain  advocates  is  endeavoring  to  gain  control 
o'  She  movement  and  to  take  to  itself  whatever  credit 
may  result  from  its  advancement.  Unfortunately,  it  must 
V>  admitted  that  the  religious  or  Christian!  idea  is  given 
kittle  prominence  in  the  program  of  those  who  are  mak- 
ing the  loudest  claim  to  public  notice  in  the  feminist 
«5&use  to-day,  ftartieulafrly  in  the  realm  of  political  activ- 
ity. The  demand  for  Suffrage  finds  not  tiits  most  ardent 
supporters  and  workers  among  those  whose  lives  are  per- 
meated with  the  influences  of  religion:  This  statement 
is  one  merely  of  fact,  nor  is  it  in  condemnation  of  suffrage 
ncfr  of  the  attitude  of  those  who  in  harmony  with  their 
inner  selves  remain  aloof  from  the  discussion.     Still,  the 


situation  demands  the  positive  concurrence  and  infusion 
of  Christian  ideas  if  it  is  no!  to  loud  to  ruinous  conse- 
quences Ooa  society,  for  religion  and  for  woman  herseU. 

ThaA    theire  te  an   Irreligious,   anti-Christian   current 
in  the  contemporary  feminist  movement  can  scarcely  be 

THE     ANTI-CHRISTIAN    CURRENT    IN 
PRESENT-DAT  FEMINISM. 

gadn&aiti,  but  thai  circumstance  does  not  justify  con- 
demnation of  the  cause.  That  there  have  been  mistakes, 
excesses,  even  absurdities  in  the  activities  of  its  ad- 
vocates; that  some  of  them  have  seemingly  unsexed  them- 
selves, becoming  neither  men  nor  women,  but  ungender- 
ed  militants,,  is  not  astonishing'.  In  every  display  of 
enthusiasm  something  similar  may  be  no£ed;  to  launch 
out  inlo  the  free  spaces  of  the  ;air  is  no  easy  matter, — 
there  may  be  no  obstacle  to  impede  unrestrained  action, 
but  there  are  no  parapets,  no  rails  on  which  to  lean  for 
support,  no  safeguards  against  the  danger  of  losing  for 
the  time  our  sense  of  direction  and  equilibriium.  It  is 
quite  easy  to  slay:  "Everything  is  alii  right,"  which  is 
hot  true;  and  ;it  (is  easy  to  say:  "Everything  is  all  wrong" 
— which  is  bdth  false  and  foolish.  The  difficulty  is  in  de- 
termining the  golden  mean  in  judgment  and  conduct,  and 
it  is  never  found  in  hasty  judgment, — even  about  femin- 
ism. The^e  is  what  is  styled  Revolutionary  Feminism, 
and  it  is  easy  to  put  it  in  opposition  to  Christian  Femin- 
ismji,  but  there  is  a  Christian  Feminilsm:  and  this  is  it 
that  we  must  heflp  to  prevail,  not  by  an  unsympathetic 
antagonism  to  the  whole  idea  in  theory  and  practice  but 
by  a  sane  and  enlightened  enthusiasm;,  by  making  the 
truth  more  attractive  and  persuiasive  than  eruor,,  by  set- 
ting up  a  genuine  ideal  instead  of  a  counterfeit,  by  keep- 
ing in  close  touch  with  the  realities  of  facts  and  follow- 
ing the  clear  light  of  dispassionate  reason.  Even  among 
the  leaders  who  are  not  consciously  inspired  by  dis- 
tinctively Christian  ideas  there  is  much  generosity  and 
di/sinterestednefis,  and  woman  in  the  aggregate  is  less 
gross*,  less  material  than  man.  Where  good  faith  abides. 
(idiotic  derision  and  illogical  sophistry  ill  become  the 
male  of  the  species  in  his  relation  to  the  sex  to  whom  he 
owes  his  life,  and  no  Christian  would  dare  to  make  his 
own  the  flippant  statement  of  Schopenhauer  about  the 
long  haiir  and  the  short  brain  of  womian;  or  that  off  Proud - 
hon,  tha/t  woman  is  but  a  diminutiive  of  man],  "a  sort  of 
middlie  term  between  him  and  the  rest  of  the  animal 
kingdom." 

While  recognizing  the  good  in  feminism  and  the  need 
of  patience  in  dealing  with  it's  excesses  we  can  not  pass 

9 


WOMAN   OUTSIDE   OF  CHRISTIANITY 

over  the  charge  that  comes  froni  the  anti-Religious 
element  that  Ch{risti?aniity  is  in  the  way  of  woman's 
progress,  rights  and  perfection.  On  the  contrary,  we 
maintain  vigorously  that  before  Christianity  and  outside 
of  it  there  is  nothing  to  which  woman  can  point  as  an 
auxiliary;,  thai  whatever  emancipation  there  has  been., 
whatever  exaltation,  h'ais  resulted  from  the  force  and 
play  of  Christian  ideas  and  no  others.  In  pre-Christian 
time  si,  woman  did  not  possess  the  rank  or  a  human  per- 
son. Custom;  philosophy  and  religion  all  were  leagued 
against  her,  and  with  rare  exception  she  was  treated  as 
a  thing,,  or  at  best,  as  an  institution;  but  never  as  a  per- 
son, as  a  being  endowed  with  a  destiny^  inalienable 
rights  amd  responsibilities.  Even  when,  for  instance,  she 
occupied  a  position  in  the  religious  organization  as  a 
Sibyl  or  a  Pythian  oracle},  it  was  a  question  not  of  per- 
sonal conscience  but  of  nerves.  The  Spartan  equality 
of  the  sexes  was  the  shameless  animalism  of  the  gymna- 
\iumi,  with  not  a  thought  of  womanhood  for  its  own  sake. 
All  paganism!,  even  at  Athens  /and  Rome  in  their  palmiest 
days,  presents  the  same  disgusting  picture,  and  if  that  is 
the  ideal  of  any  group  to-day,  let  us  have  none  of  it. 
The  ancient  world  has  no  lessons  to  teach  us  except  in 
:a  negative  wayV  for  even  among  the  most  advanced  of 
them  the  husband  could  treat  his  wife  merely  as  a 
piece  of<  property  that  he  was  free  to  siellj,  to  bestow  upon 
another,  to  bequeath  in  his  will.  In  China,  woman  was 
not  admitted  to  have  a  soul,  she  might  noli  enter  into 
the  temples  to  adore;  she  might  and  must  adore — her 
husband,  who  could  put  her  away  for  most  trivial  faults. 
Hindu  women  were  buried  alive  with  their  husbands,  a 
tragic  symbol  of  married  unity.  As  to  pagan  philosophy, 
the  same  sad  story  ijs  repeated  lin  ^tisi  pages.  In  the  tables 
of  Pythagoras,  woman  was  placed  in  the  second  column 
,'ailong  with  darkness,  chaos  and  evil;  in  the  Platonic 
metempsychosis^  the  m'an  who  sinned  was)  reborn  a  wom- 
an, the  woman  who  sinned  was  reborn  a  beast.  And  the 
great  moralist  Epietetus  counselled  husbands  to  look  up- 
on thejir  wives  as  pretty  shells},  a  fair  fliower  picked  by 
chance  along  the  river  bank,  but  not  as  anything  to  which 
his  heart  should  cling:  in  a  word  the  verdict  of  ancient 
thought  is  simpily  this--man  has  a  personal  destiny,  wom- 
an has  no  destiny  but  through  man;  man  exists,  woman 
coexists;,  woman  belongs  to  man  as  truly  as  the  animal 
that  he  tames  and  the  slave  that  he  commands. 

Christianity*,,  and  it  ;alonef,  rid  the  world  of  this  sen- 
timent;    no|    utterly,   indeed,    but   it   has   condemned   it, 

WOMAN  IN  PAST  CHBISTIAN  AGES. 

decree/ft  its  death  and  awaits  but  the  evolution  of  social 
moraMty  to  carry  out  the  decree.  What  a  contrast  is 
Christ's  own  altitude  towards  woman  to  that  of  paganism! 

10 


U  ho  makes   any  disf  inct  ioir-,    it.  Beema  to   be   in   her   favor, 

to  give  her  a  larger  share  in  the  divinity  thai 
See|  Him  at  Jacob's  well  explaining  the  very  essence  oi 
IPs  sublime  docttrlne  to  the  Sanuarltan  woman;  Bee  Him 
conversing  with  Magdalenj  witness  his  attitude  (toward 
the  sinner  whom  he  encourages  not  bv  the  acarnful  pity 
of  the  sagos  but  by  a  confident  appeafl  to  her  moral  con- 
science. See  Him  in  his  inch'ablc  love  and  honor 
her  whom  he  chose  as  Lhe  vanry  select  in-v  rumeni  to  co- 
operate in  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation.  Even  His  appar- 
ent severity  to  woman  is  a  tribute  to  heir  as  a  sharer  id 
.the  immortality  that  He  came  to  restore  to  our  race. 
"Women  are  associated  writh  Him  throughout  his  public 
ministry  so  far  as  the  custom  of  the  time  permitted;  a 
group  of  them  attend  him  and  enable  H'm  by -their  ser- 
vice to  deliver  the  message  of  eternity  without  encum- 
brance. They  follow  Him  to  Calvary,  listen  to  His  last 
words  land  on  the  morrow  o:  the  Resurrection  will  be  the 
chosen  heralds  of  His  triumph.  In  Christ's  kingdom. 
He  tells  us1,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female,  but  both 
are  as  the  angels  of  heaven,  and  St.  Paul  proclaimed  the 
principle  of  Christian  emancipation  in  unmistakable 
terms:     "'In  Christ     there     is   no   distinction     of  Jew  or 

Greek of  Gentile  and  Barbarian,  bond  or  free,  male 

or ■  flemale-,  for  wTe  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.''  No  won- 
der women  took  to  Christianity,  and  turned  to  the  warm 
sun  of  the  rising  Gospel  as  a  deliverance  from  the  heart- 
less atmosphere  o^  paganism.  Henseforth  woman  shall 
be  a  slave  no  longer,  her  personal  dignity  is  guaranteed, 
and  the  history  of  Christianity  during  the  days  of  its  gi- 
gantic growth  is  paralleled  by  the  histoiry  of  woman's 
rise  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  During  the  middle  ages, 
as  a  counterpoise  to  feudal  despotism  and  the  survival  of 
the  law  of  might  among  the  recently  converted  nations, 
chivalry  makes  its  appearance1.  It  was  not  the  ideal 
state  that  some  imagine,  but  it  was  an  approach  to  it, 
it  was  a  palliative,,  relatively  very  good1,  a  feminist  tri- 
umph as  well  as  a  (relig-ous  triumph,  an  offshoot  of  the 
sincere  devotion  of  strong  men  to  the  "Lady  Mary," 
heaven's  queen,  the  vlaliant  knight's  celestial  champion, 
whose  sweeft  influence  secured  for  her  earthly  sisters  the 
respect  and  worship  and  flavor  of  hearts  that  hitherto 
were  strangers  to  tenderness.  This  mystic  love  curbed 
brutality!,  and  if  it  did  not  secure  for  woman  all  heir 
rights,  at  least  it  opened  the  door  to  justice  and  gave 
promise  of  better  days  to  come. 

If  that  promise  was  not  more  speedily  land  fully  real- 
ized, whose  is  the  responsibility?  The  canonical  legisla- 
tion of  the  days  of  fervent  faith  sought  the  moral  eleva- 
tion of  woman,,  securing  her  rights  in  marriage  and  her 
lawful  place  in  the  home;  it  acknowledges  the  moral 
equality  of  the  sexes  and  promotes  their  social  equality. 

11 


Even  the  famous  right  to  vote  was  granteld  by  the 
Church  to  women  who  lived  in  religion  and  elected  their 
own  superiors;  and  it  has  happened;,  as  in  the  days  of 
StS.  Brigit,  that  men  we're  placed  undelr  a  woman's  rule. 

On  the  other  hand,  every  subsequent  departure  from 
authentic  Christian  truth,   either  by  the  gate  of  heresy, 

THE  RENAISSANCE,  EARLY  REFORMA- 
TION  AND  MODERN    INFIDELITY 

or  unbeliiefl  or  by  that  of  neo-paganism  has  meant  a  low- 
ering of  woman'/s  dignity  and  istatusi.  Go  back  to  the  Ren- 
aissance!, and  in  the  sensual,  flattery  of)  ilts  recorfds,  in 
its  Dialogues  and  Decameron^,  you  will  readily  find  con- 
tempt and  scorn  for  women  writtem  on  every  page.  These 
flatterers  held  the  whip  of  isatiire  in  one  hand  and  the 
incense  of  adulation  in  the  ojthe'r,,  toi  scourge  the  soul  and 
worship  the  flesh  of  the  idol  they  inwiardly  despised.  Go 
back  to  the  Reformation!,  and  (read  'the  fifty  Protestant 
theses  upheld  in  one  year  at  Wittemberg  to  disprove  the 
personal  dignity  of  woman.  Ask  Luther  himselif  what  he 
thought  of  her,,  He  answe/red  that  we  must  bring  back 
to  Christian  civilization  the  hardness  of  heart  of  the  Mo- 
saic days,  that  religion  demanded  womanfs  subjection, 
that  she  should  honor  man.  fear  him,,  listen  to  him,,  be 
subject  to  him  and  obey  him  without  question  or  com- 
'plaint.  He  destroys  the  marriage  bond),  sets  up  the 
principle  of  polygiaimy,,  refuses  young  girlis  the  advan- 
tage of  instruction!,  and  calls  dangerous  and  chimerical 
the  demand  of  his  contemporafry  the  Catholic  humanist, 
Vivos,  that  both  sexes  should  have  an  equ;afl  chance  at 
education.  Go  back  again  to  the  degradation  of  the  in- 
fidel 18th  century,  and  you  will  witness  a  <stLmilar  scene, 
to  the  Revolutionary  days  of  '89s,  and  no  cry  of  relief  is 
heard,  no  concern  for  woman's  rehabilitation  is  evi- 
denced. And  in  the  iface  of  all  this,  is*  lit  not  astounding 
to  hear  some  anti-Christian  feminist  in  our  day  charge 
our  religion  with  contempt  for  woman,  with  the  crime  of 
degrading  her  and  relegating  her  to  the  lowest  ranks? 

There  are  specific  compl'aiints  sometimes  alleged, 
based  on  texts  or  phrases  of  Scripture  hastily  or  super- 
ficially interpreted  on  some  "unkind!  sayings  of  the  Fathers 
about  the  women  of  paganismi,  on  the  Church's  doctrine 
of  ceMbacy,  on  its  refusal — fort  sound  practical  reasons — 
to  'admit  woman  to  the  priesthood;  but  these  objections 
need  not  frighten  us  nor  have  they  been  lelft  unanswered. 
If  I  may  iWuatrate  with  one  instance  which  will  serve  as 
a  sample  off  the  rest?  It  is  commonly  charged  by  writers 
who  are  opposed  to  the  Christian  idea  in  social  programs 
that  ,in  the  year  585  a  council  of  bishops  was  held  in  the 
city  of  Macon  and  that  a  debate  arose  'among  the  prelates 

12 


whether  or  not  woman  was  a  human  creature  and  had  a 
soul!  A  strange  council  indeed!  These  learned  bishops 
had  never  heard  of  a  woman  called  the  Virgin.  Mary,,  Ihcy 
never  had  consulted  a  liturtgical  cah  ndarl  they  never 
had  administered  to  women  the  regenerating  sacraments 
that  demand  exalted  isenlimejnts  in  the  woi<lhy  recipent! 
The  truth  is  simply|,  thai,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Council 
there  is  no  reference  to  anything  o!)  the  kincfy  but  there 
is  a  story  given  by  St.  Oi^elgory  of  Tours  to  the  effect 
that  there  had  been  some  discussion  at  the  Council,  of 
the  gender  of  the  word  "man,/  whether  the  Latin 
"homo"  was  used  in  the  Bible  in  both  the  masculine  and 
feminine,  a  discussion  purely  philological;,  which  in  its 
conclusion  was  decided  in  the  affjrjmative.  Such  is  the 
story  going  the  rounds  to  prove  that  the  bishops  of  the 
olden  days  taught  that  woman  had  no  soul! 

VI  the  Christian  religion  bats  not  com<pteted  its  work, 
and  has  not  secured  flor  woman  in  The  order  of  facts  all 


PLACE  OF  THE  WOMAN  QUESTION  IN 
THE  CHRISTIAN  PROGRAM. 


that  ishe  claims  that  she  is  entitled  to*,,  it  is  because  it 
has  had  to  deal  with  facl®  !amd  with  human  beings  whose 
Response  toi  her  influence  is  imperfect  and  slow.  Re- 
ligion's task  is  primarily  moral  rather)  than  social,  its 
immediate  (goad  is  not  to  modify  social  forms,  but  to  sanc- 
Ittffy  souls;.  And  because  this  is  essential,  she  strives  for 
its  immediate  realization).  For  the  rest  she  must  be  sat- 
ined to  cooperate  indirectly  and  patiently),  in  the  assur- 
ance thai  if  she  makes  meni's  hearts  better,  'alii  that  per- 
tains to  man's  institutions  will,  sooner  or  later  yield  to 
the  uplifting  influence  that  she  has  brought  into  the 
world.  Thus  her  first  task  was  not  to  emancipate  wo- 
man but  to  sanctify  woman;  and  to  sanctify  man  too  in 
the  exercise  of  those  powers  iwhich  social  facts  had  con- 
ferred upon  him.  Man's  autocracy],  Dm  so  far  as  it  means 
oppression  of  conscience,  the  Church  condemned  at  once 
because  it  was  an  afifaiir  ot  the  moral  order;  man's  auto- 
cracy in  so  far  as  it  is  a  social,  institution,  a  form  of 
government,  the  Church  toterated  as  it  tolerates  the  va- 
rious iforms  of  national  governments  to-day'.  What,  the 
Church  has  done;,  has  been  done  in  the  jface  of  formid- 
able obstacles;  what  is  has  not  succeeded  in  doing,  is 
because  of'  the  heart  of  main|r  and  for  such  a  difficulty 
there  is  no  Radical  and  immediate  solution.  But  her 
work  wdl,l  go  on!,  for  it  is.  a  divine  and  a  human  work; 
man's  law  is  a  dynamic  Tawj,  and  as  long  as  man  collab- 
orates with  God),  he  willi  advance  in  Christian  civiliza- 
tion), and  will  draw  nearter  and  nearer  to  perfection  in 
his  personality,  his  customs,  family  affair^  nafionai  and 

13 


inter-national  relations),  in  'all  the  forms  of  social  life. 
Christianity  is  no  opiate,,  the  Churjch  no  Castle  of  Indo- 
lence; our  religion  is  a  viaticum  and  compass  to  guide 
and  further  our  progress), — at  times  it  may  counsel,  a 
measure  oif  slowness;,  but  stagnation!, — neverf. 

Woman'is     cause    finds  its  truest     ally  in  the    doc- 
trine   nad    religion  of    Christ.     Its   distinctive   teaching, 

CATHOLIC  CONCEPTION  OF  WOMAN'S 
STATUS  AND  EIGHTS. 

in  opposition  to  all  the  philosophies  and  religions  that 
are  oi  other  origin,  is  that  woman  is  a  person,  n,ot  a 
thing.  It  labors  and  will  labor  to  save  the  personality 
of  woman,  to  secure  for  her  a  maximum  of  conscience 
and  personal  responsibility,  the  very  essence  of  the 
democratic  idea  of  to-day.  She  is  not  made  for  mam  but 
has  her  own  destiny  as  an  individual;  and  for  the  same 
reason,  she  is  not  made  for.  the  family  in  a  sense  that 
would  deny  her  own  individual  destiny  above  that  of 
the  family.  The  family  is  made  for  her,  as  it  is  made 
for  man,  since  every  human  institution  mus(f  function 
for  the  benefit  o?  the  individual  person,  who  alone  has 
an  absolute  and  diefintive  value.  Sacrifice  is  goodl,  and 
women  are  masters  in  the  art  of  sacrifice;  but  there  is 
more  than  sex  in  human  nature,  and  personality,  which 
is  moref, — one's  individual  destiny;,  can  not  be  .sacrificed. 
If  Catholic  writers  and  speakers  insist  forcibly  upon  the 
duties  of  home  life  and  the  special  work  of  woman  in 
preserving  and  upholding  the  home,  it  is  not  because 
they  ignorle  the  vjalue  of  women  as  an  ^individual,,  but 
because  they  must  struggle  against  prevailing  conditions 
to-day^  The  home  must  be  preserved  and  it  cannot  be 
preserved  without  woman's  high  devotion  and  universal 
geniusl  For  Jhe  vast  majority  it  does  and  must  come 
fiitfst  as  the  field  in  which  woman  is  to  work  out  her  des- 
tiny and  this  truth  cannot  be  emphasized  too  strongly. 
We  have  come  upon  the  days  of  the  precarious  "post-Chris- 
tian"" family^  wifh  its  easy  divorce,  its  contempt  for 
parenthood  and  its  infallible  metnace  to  society  at  large. 
There  can  be  no  social  progress  for  the  group  or  the  indi- 
vidual without  the  home;  this  is  one  of  the  fixed  points 
and  doctrinal!  y,  the  position  of  Christianity  is  completely 
and  unmistakably  established  on  this  fundamental  sub- 
ject;. Yet,  religion  does  not  intend  to  limit  the  horizon  of 
woman's  life;  for  some,  both  in  the  cloister  and  out  of  it, 
the  hosmie  cannot  be  the  sphere  in  which  they  aire  to  work 
out  their  destiny;  and  for  those  whose  primary  obligations 
in  the  practical  order  are  to  the  family,  once  they  have 
been  fulfilled,  it  is  arbitrary  and  wrong  to  say  thajt  no 
other  interests  may  merit  or  receive  attention.     If  neces- 

14 


sity  or  expediency  dictate,  woman  may  and  muet  go  Into 
a  wider  Cield  fof  her  own  possible  beneil'it\  the  good  oi 
the  family  and  o.<  society  at  Large.  What  women  '-an 
undertake  and  accomplish  in  this  vaster  sphere  can  he 
settled  onily  hy  experience,  hy  facts  and  not  by  theory. 
Let  hetf  test  her  capability,  but  in  harmony  with  the 
facts.,  remembering  that  she  is  ever  woman,  and  as  such 
has  duties  which  are  imperative)*  duties  to  be  fulfilled 
before  there  is  any  rioom  for  purely  elective  interests 
If  the  Christian  spirit  is  ever  in  opposition  to  the  woman 
movement  it  is  where  that  movement  has  developed  in 
to  a  feminism  that  is  onesided  and  se/lfish,  a  struggle  be- 
tween the  sexes,  a  tendency  to  suppress  the  natural  di- 
vision of  Labor,  -to  exile  woman  away  flrom  the  home  ut- 
terly and  to  cast  her  into  public  life  on  a  level  with 
competitive  man.  But  if  feminism  means  the  more  ef- 
fective emancipation  of  woman's  moral  personality,  a 
fair)  field  to  develop  its  wolitth,  and  equal  opportunity  to 
cooperate  with  man  in  every  available  field  for  the  good 
of  humanity;,  then  Christianity  is  for  it  and  ever  has  been. 
Endowed  with  the  same  inherent  nights,  subject  to  one 
and  the  same  moral  law,  equal  indeed  before  Godi,  yet 
each  unlike  the  other,  each-  with  characteristic  aptitudes 
and  distinctive  rolies,  men  and  women  will,  with  religion's 
a/ppfroval,  labor  not  for  the  suppression  of  the  other,,  but 
togietheir  for  the  common  good.  Neither!  slavery  nor  tute- 
lage, neither  tyranny  nofr  autocracy,  but  justice  and 
truth  and  patience  withal],,  to  accept  the  laws  of  life,  to 
proclaim  the  rights  off  the  ideal  while  retmemberlng  the 
rights  of  the  real,,  building  wisely  and  solidly  with  ardor 
of  soul  and  clearness  of  vision  the  perfect  social  structure 
that  has  its  foundation  on  ear£h,  but  its  cross-crowned 
ipinnacle  piejreing  the  heavens. 

That  this  glorious  task  may  he  accomplished^  many 
things  are  necessary,  but  education  is  preeminently  neces- 

FEMINISM  AND  EDUCATION 

sary;  welliinstruicfed,  welMr  aimed),  well-developed  men 
and  women  a/re  indispensable,  and  women  no  less  than 
men.  That  they  may  not  be  wanting-,  institutions  such 
as  this  are  founded,  functions  such  as  to-day's  are  ar- 
ranged. To  you,  the  friends  of  Lorettoi,  may  I  not  ap- 
peal to-day  to  prove  your  friendship,  for  it  and  the  cause 
for  which  it  stands  by  your  effective  cooperation  in  its 
work?  Loretto  asks  your  confidence  and  your  support,— 
your  confidence,/  by  sending  your  daughters  in  ever  girow- 
itng  numbers  to  receive  her\e  the  education  that  will  8£ 
them  for  their  caiieer  in  life^,  that  we  may  have  leaders 
able  to  command  a  following,  women  conscious  of  their 
responsibility  a/nd  their  opportunity:  Let  them  come 
here  and  crowd  these  welcoming  halls  and  not  seek  the 

15 


ways  of  wisdom  amid  infix    ,i„i mm................. ».-«■■   ■-         . 

snare  to  all   that  you  part.  3  01 12  10 568 229b  n 

daughters  of  your  hearts  and  home.  Your  support  is 
necessary  too*  and  Loretto  counts  on  the  friends;  of  free- 
dom and  of  failh  to  come  to  its  assistance  in  the  meas- 
ure circumstances  render  possibles.  No  cause  is  more  wor- 
thy of  your  he\p,  and  help  must  come  to  enable  it  to  se- 
cure Ihe  material  equipment  needed  to  continue  and  de- 
velop its  work^  to  accomplish  the  full  purpose  of  its  in- 
ception. 

And  now,  I  am  done-.  If  I  have  imposed  upon  your 
friendly  patience,  let  our  love  for  Loretto  plead  my  cause. 
To  her  graduates  who  are  about  to  receive  their  coveted 
degrees,  we  rtenew  the  expression  of  our  congratulations; 
tha/:  the  one  may  go  on  zealously  and  successfully  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  he/r  vocation  of  cultivating  the  moral 
personality  of  her  precious  changes;  that  the  other  may 
carry  away  the  assurance  tha4  the  farewell  she  hears  to- 
day is  not  the  severing  of  ties,  but  a  pledge  of  loving  inter- 
est and  of  hope  that  life  may  deal  gently  with  her,  tha,t 
she  may  exemply  in  fullest  measurfe  during  the  coming 
years  the  value  of  sound  Christian  education,  and  that 
her  influence  may  tend  to  shed  lustre  on  her  Alma  Mater 
to  promote  the  true  welfare  of  her  sex,  the  honor  of  her 
country^  and  the  glory  of  her  God. 


mi 

of  \n 
BMVEasmr  of  Illinois 


16 


